Subscribe to our mailing list

I Bled For The Common Good @ Exponential Medicine 2016

October 9, 2016 – Coronado, CA

Exponential Medicine 2016

The Exponential Medicine 2016 conference is taking place at the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, CA from October 8 – 11, 2016. Exponential Medicine is a unique and intensive four-day experience that gathers world-class faculty, innovators and organizations from across the biomedical and technology spectrum to explore and leverage the convergence of fast moving technologies in the reinvention and future of health and medicine. Dr. Daniel Kraft is the Faculty Chair for Medicine & Neuroscience at Singularity University and is the Founding Executive Director of Exponential Medicine.

Tikkyn Olam Makers

“There is no vaporware here. Real people need these things.”

The founder of Tikkum Olam Makers (TOM), Arnon Zamir, said it best:”There is no vaporware here. Real people need these things.” This describes the tenor of the whole conference too, but is an apt description of TOM (http://tomglobal.org/). TOM is a proud start-up of the Reut Group, an innovative policy and strategy group courageously pursuing a 10-year vision to positively impact the lives of 250 Million people worldwide. They launched as part of a ROI Schusterman Connection Points Program in late 2013, giving birth to a global movement of Makers using their talents and creativity to design assistive technology for people with disabilities.

Their primary goal is to provide assistive technology for anyone that needs it in the world. There are 54M people in the United States living with disabilities and about 50% of those have a severe disability. Those can translate to death in the developing world without assistive technology. The organization identifies a challenge, determines a solution, and provides it as an open source design that anyone can replicate in the world.

It was founded just over 2 years ago in Israel. They have conducted 12 make-a-thons including in the US, Canada, Brazil, Vietnam, and Argentina. Next up is Bulgaria and Australia. Their process begins with challenge selection up to possibly 3 months prior to the actual make-a-thon beginning with identification of “need knowers” and design challenges. The team pairs of “need knowers” and local talent for a 1 month collaborative design process followed by 3 days of manufacturing using laser cutters, 3D printers, and other equipment. The solution is posted online to market at TOM.

A project in Vietnam was created to design a wheelchair for a 4 year old girl whose mother carrier her, usually sleeping due to the situation, in her arms for nearly her entire life. The average salary in Vietnam is $209 per month. The average wheelchair to assist with her particular disability costs $3,000. The TOM team including local talent was able to reduce the cost to a manageable $88.

Olivia Hallisey

“My generation was exposed to an interconnected world from the beginning. Responsibility comes with that.”

Olivia Hallisey won the Google Science Fair in 2015 at the age of 17 years old for the development of a fast, cheap, and stable test for the Ebola virus. The test is user friendly and provides results in less than 30 minutes. The problem with the existing diagnostics for Ebola was that they were not temperature independent. Olivia could not imagine how they could be completed accurately in Africa as a result. She was inspired by the female nurses and aid workers in West Africa who were so instrumental in curbing the virus. She wanted to help arm her fellow female scientist and health practitioners in the Ebola crisis.

See the short film Nzara ’76 by John Noble, winner of a 2014 Raw Science Film Festival Award:

A possible solution to the temperature dependence of current Eliza kits for diagnosing Ebola were not initially clear. Eventually, she designed a lateral flow test using simple and readily available instrumentation and materials in her high school science lab along with silk cocoons available on Etsy! Technical details can be found in this article on Business Insider. The new assay worked. In the future, she hopes to commercialize it for Ebola and other diseases such as Zika, Lyme, and celiac disease.

Olivia gave an inspiring response when asked if her generation feels a large weight of responsibility for the future. “My generation was exposed to an interconnected world from the beginning. Responsibility comes with that. We are global citizens and need to taken on both the benefits and responsibility of our interconnectedness.”

ORIG3N

“We are leading a transformation in the understanding and treatment of rare, genetically inherited diseases.”

Conference attendees could get their cheeks swabbed for DNA analysis and a genetic assessment including skin, fitness, and nutrition. ORIG3Nestablished the world’s largest uniformly consented cell repository to better understand the cellular and molecular foundations of disease. The cells are ever-renewing and give rise to a living database of humanity they call LifeCapsule. The science is based on Nobel Prize-winning regenerative medicine technology. They believe their approach will replace the trial-and-error guesswork of diagnosing and treating disease. In short, a person can obtain DNA analysis as well as store stem cells for future personalized use!

Pison Technology

The team behind Pison Technology is certainly inspiring. The MIT startup has four members: Dexter Ang, David Cipoletta, Wenxin Feng, and Bobby Forster. They are creating a communication and control device to help people with ALS and other neuromuscular conditions who cannot speak or move their body. The most well-known communication technology for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, is eye gaze. The reality is that less than 10% of people with ALS use it. Their goal is to help every person with neuromuscular conditions have access to affordable, effective, and efficient communication. They are creating wearable sensors that enable people to effortlessly control mobile phones, tablets and wheelchairs.

Other devices which require detecting electrical signals in the brain to communicate (i.e. EEG), the EMG-based tool is also actuated by electrical signals instead of mechanical movement…anywhere in the body. Even if a person has no ability to move, the nerves in the arms and legs are preserved and generate signals. Pison Technology has a working prototype for wireless communication for those who have lost the ability to move their arms and legs. It will be customizable and can supplement existing communication technology like eye gaze and manual switches. It is small, wireless, and multi-channel.

Team member Bobby Forster is 27 years old and was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) less than 2 years ago. The mother of fellow team member Dexter Ang inspred the idea to utilize EMG to harness the electrical systems still active in ALS patients. Last fall, Ang lost his mother to ALS. He gave up a high paying career in high-frequency trading to go back to school at MIT and to launch the startup with the team.

Hey There. I discovered yսr blog tһhe usаge of msn. This is a very
well written article. I’ll bᥱ sure to bookmark it and come back to learn eхtra of youг helpful info.
Thank you foor the рost. I’ll definitelу comeback.
b2deee9af490fe802186242e7c2d47cf

Hi! Quick question that’s totally off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly?
My blog looks weird when viewing from my iphone. I’m trying to
find a template or plugin that might be able to resolve
this problem. If you have any suggestions, please share.
Many thanks!
b2deee9af490fe802186242e7c2d47cf

Hi, I think your blog might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog site in Chrome, it looks fine but when opening in Internet
Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give
you a quick heads up! Other then that, excellent blog!
b2deee9af490fe802186242e7c2d47cf

Howdy! I realize this is kind of off-topic however I had to ask.
Does managing a well-established blog such as yours take a lot of work?
I am completely new to writing a blog however I do write
in my journal every day. I’d like to start a blog so I can easily
share my personal experience and views online. Please let me know if you have any
kind of recommendations or tips for new aspiring bloggers.

Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your
web site and in accession capital to claim that I get actually loved account your weblog posts.
Anyway I will be subscribing in your augment or even I fulfillment you get entry
to persistently fast.
b2deee9af490fe802186242e7c2d47cf

Hmm it seems like your blog ate my first comment (it was super long) so I
guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and
say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog
writer but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any points for rookie blog
writers? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
b2deee9af490fe802186242e7c2d47cf

Heya! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone 4!
Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog
and look forward to all your posts! Keep up the fantastic work!
b2deee9af490fe802186242e7c2d47cf

Attractive component of content. I simply stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to say that
I acquire in fact enjoyed account your blog posts.
Anyway I’ll be subscribing for your augment or even I fulfillment
you get entry to persistently quickly.
b2deee9af490fe802186242e7c2d47cf

After I originally commented I appear to have clicked the
-Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on whenever a comment is added I receive four emails with
the same comment. Perhaps there is a means you can remove me
from that service? Kudos!
b2deee9af490fe802186242e7c2d47cf

Do a little analysis and find one that offers the refinance
product. To that effect, only those whose age is above 18 years could be eligible to receive a
person to person used auto loan. ‘ You can find more options and creditor before you accept the finance.
b2deee9af490fe802186242e7c2d47cf

Premium Content

Latest Posts

Authors

Brian Heater has worked at a number of tech pubs, including Engadget, Laptop, and PCMag (where he served as Senior Editor). Most recently, he was as the Managing Editor of TechTimes.com. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. He hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor and shares his Queens apartment with a rabbit named Lucy.

Keri is the founder of Raw Science TV. She is a bioengineer and ballet dancer so is interested in the intersection of science and media. She is also active in empowering girls and women in STEM through access to energy and telemedicine. You can follow her on Facebook: @KeriKukral

Lydia works in cancer research as a technical science editor and content creator. She is a futurist interested in space exploration and social initiatives. She is also the co-founder of Givdo, a gaming app where users play sponsored games to win money for charity. You can follow her on Twitter: @lydeey

More Stories

The epigenome of molecular “switches” that can turn individual genes on or off has been mapped in more than 100 types of human cells Source – Scientific American…

About The Site

Raw Science is an online network focused on science and technology that will change the world in the near future. With on-demand streaming media, original series, and editorially curated content offered by leading experts in all areas of science and technology, Raw Science offers stunning insights on how cutting-edge advances can furnish solutions for the greatest issues confronting our society.